A History
of The Manning Times

From construction of Interstate 95 to the Tornado of 1915 to Hurricane Hugo and right on through to the most recent rehearings in the George Stinney Jr. case, The Manning Times has been an integral part of sharing the story of our county.

Much of the news of this modern incarnation gives the details about our neighbors and their triumphs and travails. While earlier Times editions covered state and national news, as the years progressed, the Times found its niche in covering just Clarendon County and leaving national news to our larger media colleagues.

The exact beginnings of The Manning Times are less than crystal clear.

In fact, through multiple owners, publishers and editors, no one saw fit to even write a proper history of the paper until 2007, as the newspaper celebrated 125 years in business.

Even that history was spotty. What we do know is that The Manning Times is one of the county’s oldest continually running businesses, if not the oldest. We are one of the oldest community newspapers in the state and southeast. We are the oldest community newspaper in Clarendon County, and the oldest within the Pee Dee.

And we’re no less dedicated to covering the story of Clarendon County than were our predecessors 132 years ago when this paper was founded.

We are still researching our history, but what we’ve been able to find out so far follows.

Noted South Carolina newspaper historian John Hammond Moore, author of “S.C. Newspapers,” thought the paper’s genesis came from The Spirit of the Times.

“(That paper) was established in 1881 in Sumter covering Clarendon County and moved to Manning in 1884 to become The Manning Times,” Moore wrote in his 1988 book.

Those papers were owned by W.J. Beard, who was also their editor; William C. Ivy served as publisher. Unfortunately, there are no file copies of this paper’s predecessor in South Carolina, according to Moore.

The oldest Manning Times on file – at the Clarendon County Archives and History Center – is Vol. 1, No. 43, dated Oct. 7, 1885. Interestingly, the paper’s editor at that time, B.S. Dinkins, was a little bit of a rapscallion, and was arrested in 1889 for forgery.

Our research has not led us to the reasons why.

On Jan. 17, 1894, Publisher S.A. Nettles sold the paper to Louis Appelt, who had worked as an “office boy” for the paper.

Appelt’s Manning Times was typical for its day: The eight-column broadsheet covered local news much like the town crier, eschewing the more in-depth coverage you will find in today’s paper. Commercial announcements like the impending delivery of a load of mules were interspersed with graphic reporting of crimes, violent deaths, illnesses and convictions for adultery and domestic violence.

Items that today would be relegated solely to grocery store tabloids were printed back then without apology.

Appelt was also known for his long rivalry with “Pitchfork” Ben Tillman during his time as a state senator, and their battle of words played out in the columns of The Manning Times and other state newspapers, including the Charleston News and Courier.

Under son I.I. Appelt’s watch, he Manning Times modernized, and ultimately developed a printing job business that had customers across six states. He added features like bridal, engagement and birth announcements, which we are still pleased to run – for free – to this day.

He ran the paper until his death in 1937, and his wife, Clara, took the reins for six years.

Ultimately, they were succeeded by Appelt’s two sisters, Martha and Valley.

The dynasty ended with Martha’s retirement in 1958.

… Today, the Times is run by Publisher Leigh Ann Maynard. Editor Robert J. “Bobby” Baker oversees the production of the paper and other Times Publishing Inc. materials.

Leigh Ann and Bobby are watching circulation and readership grow each week. They like to tell people that they have a “Dream Team” at the paper, and they hope to be a part of its history for a long time.